Togashi and Kochiwa spent the duration of the first stanza tensely
trading jabs. While the southpaw Togashi landed a few decent
combinations, Kochiwa was always just out of range and thus unable
to connect with counter punches--so much so that his striking
coach, former boxer Takeshi
Yamada of Team Kurofune fame, yelled from the sidelines, “it's
okay to kick too, Kochiwa!”

By the second and third frames, Togashi appeared to have developed
a system for dispatching Kochiwa. As his jab continued to frustrate
and bloody up Kochiwa's nose, the Wajutsu Keishukai fighter grew
more and more frustrated, eventually trading his straight punches
for lunging baseball pitch-like overhands. This of course putt him
just in range for a barrage of hooks from Togashi, which only
further bloodied him up.

In a last ditch effort, Kochiwa barked at Togashi in the final 30
seconds, challenging him to stand toe-to-toe. Togashi momentarily
took the bait and got battered up a bit, but clinch up to hold onto
Kochiwa until the final bell. Having bullied Kochiwa in the
striking department for three rounds, judges Hiroyuki
Kanno and Tadashi
Yokoyama naturally saw the bout 30-27 for Togashi, while
referee and in-ring judge Toshiharu Suzuki scored it 30-28 for
Togashi.

“Yuichi
Nakanishi helped me gameplan for Kochiwa, and I fought as
planned. Even Kochiwa didn't stray from the plan,” said Togashi
after the bout. “Thus, I didn't take any damage today.”

T.
Irei

Delameau pounded on Yachi.

Hawaiian transplant Guy
Delumeau neutralized 2009 143-pound rookie champion Yusuke
Yachi with stifling wrestling and top control, taking a
unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18). Delumeau hit the takedown
in the opening moments and parked himself in half guard where he
ground the bleached blond fighter for most of the first period.
Yachi momentarily escaped to land a solid headkick on Delumeau, but
the American took Yachi back down before he could add any further
punishment.

“Yachi has a long reach, but so do I. I knew he was going to try
and keep me at a distance to keep from getting the takedown, so I
tried to give him the space and when the time was right, I just
squashed him,” commented Delumeau.

“He's got a lot of talent and stuff. They call him the super
rookie, but he hadn't fought [anyone like] me yet, though. That's
all there was too it.”

Tiring in the second frame, Delumeau ate a bit more punishment as
his slower low kicks were met by Yachi's snapping southpaw jabs.
Nonetheless, he eventually took the fight back to the floor
whereupon he triangled Yachi's head from side-control, dropping
hammer fists on the Krazy Bee fighter's crown to close out the
round.

Elsewhere, 2010 123-pound rookie tournament champ Kosuke “Rambo”
Suzuki was the aggressor in his bout with Haruo Ochi,
battering him with flying kicks and wild combinations. “Rambo”
opened up Ochi's left ear with a grazing kick, which he soon
followed up with a brain-rattling right hook that had Ochi
stumbling.

T.
Irei

Ochi scored the comeback KO.

Luckily for Ochi, Suzuki couldn't finish but he still took the
round by locking him down with the reverse triangle to drop punches
to the body. Clearly behind coming into the second, Ochi shocked
the crowd in attendance as well as Suzuki when he proved that he
was anything but wounded prey. With a jump knee, right hook, then a
huge lunging left hook, the battered and bloody-eared Ochi suddenly
had Suzuki dead on the canvas at the 2:10 mark for the surprising
turnabout win.

Kenji
Yamamoto showed an array of promising tools in the evening's
sole 132-pound rookie tournament bout, chief amongst which were
crisp combination punches and brutal rib-roasting hooks. Yamamoto
had Takeuchi constantly backpedaling as he shellacked him with
punches throughout the first frame.

Though he clearly slowed, it was evident that it was only a matter
of time until one of his killshots got through. That time was 2:12
of the second stanza with a short right hook to the face that sent
a rubbery Takeuchi backwards through the ropes, arms splayed to his
side.

After a competitive first round, Chuji Kato
threw it into high gear for the second frame, blitzing Yoshinori
Suzuki in the clinch with dirty boxing as well as hard punches
from above in mount. As such, Judges Kanno, Yokoyama, and Suzuki
unanimously ruled the 143-pound rookie tourney bout in his favor
(20-18, 20-17, 20-17).

T.
Irei

Fujita got mauled by Omichi.

Yusuke
Kasuya put on a perfect performance against Yoshikazu Fujiishi
in their 154-pound rookie tournament bout as Kasuya first bombarded
Fujiishi with heavy right hands from guard before transitioning to
the back for the rear-naked choke finish at 4:47 of the first.

In the other 143-pound rookie tourney bout that evening, Shoki
Omichi defeated Hiroaki
Fujita with a second round armbar at 4:20, after softening him
up with an early anaconda choke attempt.

The evening's planned opener between Yuki Baba and
Kenjiro
Inagaki was canceled due to Baba suffering from dehydration
during his weight cut, prompting medical intervention and a trip to
the hospital.